A Few Good Men
by amortentia1992
Summary: Hermione goes back in time with one intention and one intention only, but fate has another idea and the question is how probltematic can a witch who didn't quite think things through, an altered timeline and fickle fate bring? The answer: a lot.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Welcome to this newest addition. This Short story is an elongated fix based off of my third chapter in my death eater express drabble collection. This is dedicating to Flame4Thought who gave me something to think about in her review. I hope you all enjoy this piece. It is unbetaed so if you see mistakes I appreciate it you would actually draw my attention to where so I can fix them instead of just pointing out they exist. I want my story to be as correct as possible so all can enjoy it, but it is hard to catch them all myself.**

* * *

The brunette curly haired witch could not stop thinking about Regulus Black. She was in hiding with her two best friends and they were hunting down horcruxes to attempt to destroy them and increase their odds of defeating Voldemort.

The trio, hiding out at Grimmauld Place, the now vacant former order headquarters and estate of the late Sirius Black, were trying to discover where the locket might be. The one they had was a fake, inside a simple note that proved the younger black sibling had betrayed his leader and wanted to redeem himself. But he had been murdered for his defiance.

The boy had been so young, barley out of school when he died, his life cut far too short. And he died still commonly believed to be a dark wizard, an irredeemable criminal.

It made the witch feel melancholy. She was a young witch, siding with the light but so close to darkness and danger all the time on her quest to save the world that she wondered how she would be remembered if she were to die. It seemed that the world only saw things on the surface, they didn't look deeper to discover the truth. The truth was that she was a terrified teenager trying to survive in a world where she had to defend herself and her friends because she was otherwise very much alone. It was true that Hermione was useful to her friends, saving their asses and doing their research and their homework to boot, and she was positive that they cared for her, and the order of the phoenix they considered her an asset. She was fighting for them, and if she were to be killed in this war, she certainly would be missed, but she wondered, would people even care if she died? They didn't for him. Even Sirius, a man she had called her friend, the only person who she allowed to call her nicknames that made her cringe, he never spoke of his own brother, never mentioned his name. Regulus may have been a dark wizard, but Sirius was his brother and Hermione thought that the poor boy must have felt terribly isolated, and felt that Sirius should regret the way he treated his younger brother in his life.

After days of obsessing Hermione decided that it was time to take measures into her own hands. It may be illegal, it may be dangerous, but then she did illegal and dangerous things everyday under the guise that she was fighting for the light. Hermione was going to bring him back, she was going to go back and change the course of history. Or so she hoped.

She carefully pulled out her old time-turner, which she still had in her possession since third year, from her little blue beaded bag and drew the long chain over her neck. She wouldn't be gone long, just long enough, so she was not worried about Harry or Ron.

She spun the dial twenty times and was overcome by a sense of spiraling, which in theory she was, through time. When the sensation passed she opened her brown eyes and frowned.

There she stood in the Hogwarts corridor watching a heated exchange between two wizards. One she recognized instantaneously from the way his hair hung in his face, the way he stood as if posing for something, it was Sirius. The wizard before him was similar in looks, but had a wider jaw, darker eyes and longer hair that was carefully groomed to not sit in his face. Despite the fact that Hermione had never seen a portrait of the young man she assumed it must be Regulus, the looks were just too similar for him not to be.

But it was all wrong. These were just boys, they couldn't be any older than sixteen which meant that at the most Sirius was in his fifth year. She had gone back too far, at this point Regulus wouldn't even be marked yet, if he even knew who the Dark Lord was, they wouldn't have any idea what she was talking about.

However the teenaged witch saw an opportunity to perhaps save more than one person's fate here. She just had to figure out how exactly she should do that. She noticed suddenly that the conversation, or argument depending on viewpoint, had ceased and that both wizards were staring at her.

There was a gleam in Sirius's eye that she recognized as playful, yet suddenly without so many physical age differences between them the look made her uncomfortable as the boy wizard gave her an appraising once over that was more like a public undressing.

"Hello Kitten," He said with a smirk. "Who might you be?"

Regulus on the other hand looked straight at her and Hermione didn't mistake the cold hard suspicion in his eye. The similarities in appearance between the two brothers were ill matched by their attitudes. They behaved so opposite from the other that if they didn't look alike she never would guess they were related. And the look in Regulus eyes when she met his gaze made her shiver.

"Yes who are you?" A third voice entered the equation, coming from behind her. It was a voice the young witch would recognize anywhere, and she shuddered involuntarily. Severus Snape. A young Severus Snape.

"Um" She squeaked out and flushed, embarrassed by the small sound. She wondered briefly if she could flee the room. But she was trapped, despite the long corridor, there were two wizards in front of her and one very powerful wizard who was quick with his wand behind her and there were no classrooms between where she was cornered. If she moved in any direction one of the three were sure to catch her.

It wasn't how she wanted to do this, and frankly she realized that she didn't think things all the way through. This was not one of her better ideas.

"My name is Hermione Granger." She began only to be cut off by Regulus speaking.

"I don't really care who you are, the fact is you are not a student here so what are you doing here?"

"Yes, Um, I'm getting to that point." She replied awkwardly. "As I said, My name is Hermione Granger and I've come from the future." Oh Merlin, had she just said that? How corny, It was like a bad line straight out of a movie. The looks she received from the wizards in turn proved the fact that she had made an already unbelievable statement even more so. She mentally slapped her head. Then she imagined Severus Snape whacking her on the head in his usual style she so often noticed with Harry and Ron.

"The truth would be a good thing, I think Kitten." Chuckled Sirius.

"I am telling you the truth. Look I can prove it." She pulled out her time-turner. "This is a time-turner, it allows a witch or wizard to turn the dial forwards or backwards to move through time. I have one because when I was in my third year in Hogwarts in 1994, I had too many courses that were often held at the same time, but Dumbledore allowed me to use this to be able to take all of them.

"Tall tales, time-turners are hard to come by, only highly ranked Department of Mysterious officials are allowed to use them. A young girl would not have access to one, you will have to do better than that." Severus hissed. Hermione whirled around to face him and gave him a sneer.

"You want me to prove more. Fine. You, boy, are Severus Tobias Snape, you are a half blood, your mother a squib from the Prince line, and you are in love with your childhood friend and young muggle-born witch by the name of Lily Evans." Here she paused for effect letting the truth sink and watching as his face coveted into a furious expression. "In the future you are my potions professor." Before the wizard could retaliate she had spun back around and was addressing Sirius.

"Sirius Black. You are a Gryffindor, which is a stain on your house's name if your parent's are to be listened to, and you are mates with Prongs, Mooney and Wormtail, you yourself are also known as Padfoot. You happen to be the godfather of my best friend and the only person I allow to call me kitten for your information." Before Sirius could even give his trademark grin she was already moving on.

"You're Regulus Black, the younger brother to that one there and you uphold tour family's motto Toujours Pur, but I really must confess that I don't actually know that much about you because where I come from you are dead and nobody ever utters your name." She yelled in frustration and was met by all three boys' complete silence.

Which was eventually broken by them talking over her, as if she were not standing right there, really, and to each other.

"Wait you Love Lily?" Sirius asked Severus who ignored him except for a glare.

"There is no way, no way would anybody know that much about me, nobody knows that about me." Severus commented.

"I think she might actually be telling the truth." Regulus remarked.

"Perhaps the hallway isn't the best place to have this conversation." Offered Sirius. The others nodded and in the next second she found herself being ushered into an empty classroom up ahead.

"Now. Explain." Said Severus.

"I came back to warn you, I mean, I didn't quite plan on you all being here but the more the merrier." Hermione said.

"Well gathering the fact that I'm dead in the future, I take it you came back for me then?" Inquired Regulus.

"Yes I did. I don't know the best way of going about this." She replied. "Do you all know who Voldemort is?"

Sirius froze in his place, and his gaze shot towards his brother. Severus and Regulus shared a look, and in unison they all nodded their heads in the affirmative.

"Good, then I can explain less than I thought. I came back to give Regulus a warning, but the oppetunity seems to have presented itself for me to save more than one today. I'll make this quick because I don't have much time left."

"What do you mean you don't have much time?" Sirius cried out.

"She means that stupid necklace is going to pull her forwards to her own time at any minute now you dunderhead." Severus replied.

"Severus, my warning to you is to find something in your life that brings you joy, don't fall prey to what others think of you, or how they treat you. Find some semblance of happiness. Sirius, I need you to rethink your trust in wormtail, he doesn't prove to be trustworthy in the future no matter how he seems right now, Don't ever let him become Prong's secret keeper. Also avoid the Department of Mysteries at all costs, all costs, no matter what the circumstances might be in the year 1996. Regulus, don't ever join Voldemort. Don't do it, don't care what your parents have to say about it, and don't join him to feel the need to betray him later. I can't tell you what the outcome will be if you heed my warning, only that if you don't the consequences will be dire."

Hermione finished her monologue and was aware that all three wizards were staring at her. Hermione began to feel a tugging, as if she were being pulled backwards, and she glanced down to see that her time turner was spinning forwards, she was on her way to back to her own time.

The wizards watched at the strange witch with the horrible hair began to fade from view after her ominous warning. She had certainly left them with a lot to consider, as they stared long after she had disappeared.

"I can't believe you would even consider joining that lunatic." Sirius growled at his brother.

"I'm not considering it." The boy replied.

"Oh stop it you both. Perhaps we can try and figure out why the witch might have been warning us in the first place instead of bickering over what we may do to be the people we are to her in the future." A very frustrated and annoyed Severus interjected the budding argument between the siblings.

* * *

Hermione's head was spinning when she finally felt her feet placed firmly on the ground back in her room at Grimmauld Place. The room looked the same, which was a good sign she thought. Dizzy from the journey she sank onto the mattress that graced the room. The door opened.

"Kitten, what are you doing in here?" a voice asked and broke the young witch from her reverie. It was Sirius. One part of her was horrified while the other three parts immensely glad that she had been successful in saving him.

"This is my bedroom." She replied and gave him a puzzled look.

"Well, You have no idea how pleased I am to hear you finally admidit that!" The wizard smirked and crossed the room to her. Before she could gather what he was about to do his mouth covered her own and she was being pulled up from her perch on the bed.

Her eyes widened, why was Sirius kissing her?

"Sirius." She protested when he finally let her up for air.

"You don't seem very eager kitten." He pouted, no really, the sad puppy dog eyes and everything. If she wasn't so confused she would probably laugh.

"Why did you do that?" she half shouted.

"Well I guess I just assumed that since you were claiming my bedroom as yours that you had finally decided to accept my proposal. "

Oh no. She thought. What had she done? Not only had she saved Sirius from death but she was possibly getting married to him? What else had she changed?

"Ummmm, Sirius, I honestly don't have any clue what you are talking about. I…" she cut off. How would she explain having tampered with time?

She didn't have to answer her own questions because suddenly, Regulus burst through the door and gave her an accusatory glance.

"Hermione what are you doing in here? Tell me you didn't choose him." The other wizard yelled out.

"I don't know what's going on." She moaned out in despair, freaking out about the sudden attention she was so unused to and wanting to know what she had caused to happen by going back in time.

"Brother, get out." Sirius interjected swiftly, just as Hermione's legs gave out and she collapsed. Two sets of strong arms caught her.

"What did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything!" Sirius replied affronted.

"Perhaps we should call Severus." Regulus mentioned. "She does seem quite unwell."

"I don't need Snivellus poking his nose into this matter." Refuted Sirius.

"Oh quit it with your childish insults for him. You know as well as I that while you may not ever be best friends that we are all connected to each other. What year is it Sirius, You know as well as I what this could mean and he has as much a right to be here as you do." Countered the younger wizard. Sirius huffed in annoyance but really couldn't argue the point.

"Fine." He growled. In the next instant, Regulus had summoned his patrons, an Egyptian asp, and told it something in hushed tones, it went slithering off to deliver its message.

Several minutes passed and then the dead quiet of the house was met with a crack of apparition and the loud footsteps barreling up the narrow staircase. The two wizards greeted the newcomer in their typical manner. Regulus nodded and said "Severus," while Sirius merely glared.

"Why is she in your bloody room," drawled Severus to Sirius, "Has she made her decision then?"

"No, I think perhaps our respective proposals may have come too late," muttered the elder Black in a solemn tone hebrarely used.

"She fainted, I think she seemed awfully puzzled as she stood there and then she said she didn't know what was going on." Regulus explained. "Time caught up I think."

"Fuck." Hissed Severus.

Unbeknown to the three dark haired wizards, Hermione had woken up and was watching them through half-lidded eyes, feigning sleep. Time catching up, that was a common side effect of using a time-turner, and she knew that eventually she would go back, but the first rule of using the device was to not change anything, and she had. So she must have been taken back to her own time, but because she had altered the time continuum, it had caused a ripple effect on the future. Her brain was on overload.

She considered the wizards standing before her, to her they were Sirius and Snape whom she knew, but then there was Regulus as well… that alone had altered time. She supposed that the wizards present would remember her from when she went back in time. She returned feeling as though nothing was different, but she had in fact changed the course of History, she just didn't know to what extent because she was the same person who had decided to go back in time instead of the witch these three clearly knew well. She wondered how well, that kiss had been awfully familiar.

"If time caught up, then that means she has no idea about anything from the past 18 years. She would still have the memories of the girl that showed up and warned us all those years ago, and not the Hermione that Severus raised and the woman we have been chasing after for the past 18 months." Regulus voiced.

* * *

Hermione became even more agitated then she thought possible. She shifted on the bed.

"She is waking." Sirius called and knowing that she couldn't keep up the ruse any longer she opened her eyes.

"Hermione, can you tell us the last thing you remember?" Severus asked gently, which was disturbing because the man she knew was not gentle in the slightest.

"I uh, I remember using my time turner to go back in time, but I had spun it back further than I wanted, I went back to save one wizard but by opportunity I was able to warn three. Then I was pulled back through time and found myself here, and really it couldn't have been more than an hour ago." She said.

"Well, It appears that time has caught up, you must forgive me, we knew this was bound to happen but we were not prepared for it as yet. We obviously were affected by your warning and therefore choosing to heed it, altered our fates and by consequence ended up knowing a very different version of yourself, until the time that you well, returned. For you it seemed like a small amount of time, for us, it has been twenty-five years."

"I see." She said. "I gathered as much, just seeing you all here tells me that I was successful in my plan, but I didn't quite expect to meet you when I returned. Its rather a bit of a shock." Hermione stated.

"I have been working on brewing a memory restorative potion which would bind all of your memories from both the girl we have known from birth and the witch that came to warn us that we knew would catch up at some point. It's just not yet been complete and won't be for another few weeks yet."

"We had hoped that we would convince Our Hermione, to marry one of us before your inevitable arrival so that the transition could be slightly less of a burden for you, but alas, she had not yet chosen between us before well now." Regulus explained. Hermione cringed at his statement of 'our Hermione' as though she was vastly different from the person he knew.

"I guess," the witch said slowly, "That you lot will just have to explain things to me as best you can until the potion is complete."

"That is an excellent idea." Chimed Sirius.

"You would think so," commented Severus. Then to Hermione he said "I don't want to push you too hard, this must be very overwhelming for you as it is. I think perhaps we should take this slow. Could you make up a list of questions you want us to answer for you?"

"I can do that." She said and smiled in relief.

"We will leave you to your task then." Regulus stated and the three wizards left the room.

It didn't take Hermione long to come up with a list. She naturally wanted to know what was different about her friends, her parents, and the timeline and had written out about 25 questions on a piece of parchment.

She timidly opened the door to the room and poked her head out. She could hear muffled voices from down the hall so the witch cleared her throat quite loudly.

"Guys?" she called. When she did three wizards emerged from the door to what she recognized as the library, though Merlin knew if it still was or not. She handed Severus the paper and watched as he skimmed through it. Then the dark eyed man passed the note to Regulus who did the same.

"The easiest way to get through that list is to break it apart. I will explain to you your childhood and education…"

"While I will fill you in about your friends," Sirius explained.

"And I will discuss with you the war." Finished Regulus.

"Okay." Hermione agreed. "Who umm, should start?"

"I will." Severus said and gave a look that dared the other two to protest. They didn't just quietly left the room.

"Hermione," her potions master began. "You were born to muggle parents but you were not first exposed to our world at the age of 11. You grew up immersed in it. Your muggle parents were murdered in 1980 by muggles. You would have been killed to, but you had your first burst of accidental magic and such a large outburst of it that the ministry had been alerted. You were taken into the custody of aurors when they discovered the bodies of your parents and the two people who killed them. I adopted you, and raised you as my own, because Dumbledore would have otherwise sent you live as a ward of the city, until you were old enough to attend Hogwarts. I couldn't let you grow up that way, so I took you."

"My Mum and Dad." The witch gasped, pained to learn that they had died. Severus paused to allow her time to process.

"As my daughter you were naturally exposed to magic early on. You excelled in learning how to control it and you have quite a bit of power in you. Your years in school were spent being Studious, you studied potions with me from a young age and so you never took that course in school, I privately tutored you. In other courses you were the best performed student. You graduated just a couple of months ago with the highest record since Dumbledore himself."

"Well, I'm glad to know that hasn't changed any" the witch commented.

"As my adopted daughter you were exposed to quite a lot, I believe that Regulus will explain to you most of those details. Do you have any questions?"

"Sir, I'm sure that I have plenty more questions but I'm not sure that they are the type that can really be answered." She confessed.

"I understand. I'll send in Regulus."

"There's no need, I'm here." Announced the wizard in question.

"Very well." Severus said and exited the room with his standard billowing of his black robes. It delighted Hermione that some things did indeed never change.

"Are you ready to hear about the war?" Regulus asked of her. She nodded.

"I think so." She said.

"Well, when you came back in time to warn us, it was to a world where certain parties were struggling for power, but well before a war actually broke out. I was in my fourth year, Sirius and Severus in fifth. We had not heard much mentioned of the Dark Lord at that time, but within the next year that had all changed. Severus was being recruited and since your warning had not mentioned anything about him not joining he did, but not before he consulted with Dumbledore."

"Is he a spy? He was a spy in my original timeline." The witch interrupted.

"Dumbledore encouraged him to join a rising dark lord by the name of Voldermort's ranks and work his way up to the trust of the dark lord himself and use this trust to extract information and bring it to him. He did. When he graduated he studied potions at the request of both his master's, and Voldemort thinking that Severus was his sole servant and could use the opportunity to spy for him accepted a position as potions master at Hogwarts" Regulus continued.

"I refused to join the ranks, I told my parents that I was too young and too privileged to become a servant for a wizard that despite being powerful was a half-blood all the same. They allowed this, though my house continued to put on the guise of support. In 1982 the war began, but the ministry did not fall as intended and Dumbledore vanquished the Dark Lord eventually in 1985. But Dumbledore was fatally wounded in the process, he had been destroying horcruxes having been given the memory of one Horace Slughorn, and realizing what Voldemort had done. He had created six of these items and Dumbledore destroyed them but one ring was cursed to the touch and infected him with a poison with no cure. It slowly spread to his heart and after the end of the war he died. Now Severus is Headmaster." He finished.

"Poor Dumbledore, it seems that fate did not see fit to spare him in either timeline." Hermione muttered.

"Now I'm sure you are eager to hear about your social upbringing and your life to date." The wizard mentioned.

"And I'm eager to inform her," replied Sirius from where he perched in the doorway.

Regulars nodded and retreated.

"Well kitten, what say you?"

"Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Remus, Tonks, Kinsley?" The witch began listing off the names and Sirius chuckled.

"I'm surprised you think them your only friends, but fine, all fine. Harry Potter is my godson, he was prophesied to have been able to defeat the dark lord if all else failed but as forewarned I never trusted Pettigrew after that and I became the secret keeper for the Potter's and went into his myself so Voldemort was never able to locate him, though he tried. The Potter's all live a quiet but happy life in Godric's Hallow."

"You mean James and Lily are still alive?" Hermione cried, overjoyed that her dearest friend had his parents.

"Very much so. As for the Weasley Clan, they are always around, Ron and you dated for a time in school and it didn't end well, you just were not compatible and different houses made it difficult to stay real close. You are pretty tight with the twins though. Luna despite being a bit odd is a very close friend of yours as is Draco Malfoy, Theo Mott and Pansy Parkinson, they grew up with you and each offer something different in your friendship. Neville, is a little lost boy and you took him under your wing but aside from being a mentor to the lad you're not real close. Nymphadora, boy do I love calling her that, is well she is an auror and stationed right now on a project in France. Mooney is good, he finally got married to another werewolf and they bought some property in Buckinghamshire where there are some woods nearby. They live a mostly quite country life and they have a three year old daughter."

"As for Regulus and I, we knew from the moment you came back in time that you were the girl for us and have since been fighting over you. When you were brought home by Snivilus all those years ago, we struck a bargain. We would each offer you our love and devotion and ask you to marry one of us, but we wouldn't fight any longer over you since we knew you needed us both to depend on. And when you chose we would be content to live as your friend and brother as a bachelor. Severus agreed and made up a bethrothal contract, allowing you the choice between us but that you would not be we'd until after graduating."

"So I'm betrothed to one of you?"

"Hermione, as of right now you are promised to one of the Black brothers but there is no name attached to make it an actual binding. We have both loved you since we laid eyes on you." He replied honestly.

"Okay, this is all a lot to wrap my head around. Can I have some time alone please?" She asked.

"Of course, kitten. Take as long as you need, we will be downstairs in the kitchen if you need us." Sirius said and closed the door as he left the room. Hermione laid on her side and closed her eyes allowing herself to think.

* * *

While Hermione was upstairs, curled into the nest of pillows and blankets she had made for herself in Sirus's bed, the gentlemen were in the kitchen of the narrow home.

"We haven't even told her the worst of it yet." Regulars insisted in a quiet tone.

"We shouldn't reveal too much at once, the truth could hurt her more than help her." Sirius voiced.

"Loath I to admit it," drawled Severus "but the dog is right. Hermione can't find out that since the war a new darkness has risen and that she has taken control of the ministry."

"The girl was fighting in a war when she came back for us." Regulus argued. "Its not like she wouldn't be able to handle it."

"Yes but Reg," Sirius calmly pointed out "Its a bit different when you are fighting for your friends, and another thing when you are the one being targeted. We don't yet know how that knowledge would be received. Hermione Snape was dealing with it, but we don't really know this Hermione Granger, no matter how closely she resembles our girl."

"I don't like it." His brother hissed.

"None of us likes it. But the truth is what it is..." Severus was cut off mid sentence bwhen his dark mark began to burn violently. "The lady is calling and she can't know I was here, I'm already low in her favor since Hermione is my ward. I will keep in touch but don't be surprised if the messages go through Draco."

"Long live the order." Commented Sirius. "We'll keep her safe Snape." He said.

One reluctant nod of the head and a billowing of robes later Severus disaparated.

"Now Regulus, don't be telling Hermione anything about this. We have to let the truth unfold gradually, and today the girl has learned enough."

"Yeah, but what is she going to say when she finds out she can't leave this hellhole?" Remarked the younger Black sibling. Before Sirius had a chance to reply he stormed out of the room and towards the library to pursue his love of books.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: WOW! I am flabbergasted** a **t the amount od response the fisr installment of the story received. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so very much for your response be it a review, a favorite or follow or simply just a read. To those of you who expressed a concern regarding the length of the installment let me just say that I am trying my hand at writing longer chapters as well as at a short story. I don't want this story to be more than five chapters at most, but I want to get the whole story out so yes it will be a tad lengthy. To those of you who pointed out things for me to edit, thanks so much, I will look into fixing those errors as soon as possible. Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you enjoy this next installment.**

* * *

Hermione made her way down to the kitchen several hours later, having composed herself and calmed her racing thoughts. She had resolved herself to the fact that her actions had changed the course of time. Of course things would be different. It had been easy to accept that she was supposed to marry one of the Black wizards, she had always been attracted to Sirius and she knew she got along with him…

The hardest part for her to accept was that her parents had been killed when she was only one years old and that by effect she was raised as all but Snape's own daughter. That was really weird, but she supposed if she thought about, she hadn't warned him in the past to find somebody else to fall in love with, just something that made him happy, and she supposed that she was it for him. She could tell by the tender way he had regarded her that her former professor turned father figure had a lot of love in his heart for her.

And what a relief it was to her that Harry had his parents and they were not fighting against a dark Lord and that her friends and allies were all okay. It seemed odd though, because Sirius had mentioned something about her being in another house, but he had not told her which one, so she wondered how close she really was with her friends. She assumed that she would have been in Ravenclaw, even in her own timeline the hat had wanted to place her in Ravenclaw.

She sighed as she appeared in the kitchen and Sirius looked up with a soft smile. "Hello Kitten."

"Hullo." She replied. "Where is everybody?"

"Regulus is away sulking in the library and Snivillus had to leave."

"I wish you wouldn't call him that," she scolded with a deep sigh.

"I know, you always say that." He admitted.

"So why do you?"

"Old habits die hard I guess. He never has been and he never will be my favorite person." He explained.

"Would you tell me a little bit more about how I grew up?" She asked deciding to change the subject.

"Sure Kitten." He agreed. "You were a cute little girl, very sweet and always wanting to learn about something, even if I don't much care for him, I do have to admit that you were Snape's pride and joy, even if you were not of his flesh and blood. The only thing that deterred from your cuteness, was your wild curly hair that no matter what spells Severus attempted or what tactics the house elves use remained untamable.

"Oi! Don't diss the hair." She complained and he laughed.

"Well it's true. You were able to develop friendships earlier on in your life because of growing up in the wizarding world. Regulus and I were obviously connected to Severus because our fates were entwined with your warning and Regulus was actually friends with him, so you grew up thinking of us as Uncles, at least until you were old enough to understand that one day you would marry one of us. Snape was friends with the likes of Malfoy, Nott, Parkinson and Zabbini due to him having been a spy for Dumbledore, and after the war when those three paid their fines for having followed him, remained friends, so Draco, Pansy and Theo and Blaise are close friends with you. You spent a lot of summer's running around with that lot. But then there was also Harry and the Weasley clan, Snape still harbors love for Lily and while heartbroken that she choose James, had decided that having her in his life as just a friend was better than not having her in his life at all. He is like an uncle to Harry so oftentimes where you went Harry followed, and where Harry went at least two of the Weasley's were in tow. Your best friends remain Harry, Ginny, Pansy and Luna, the girls you do things like shopping and sleepovers with, while Harry is more like a brother to you."

"It's really weird to think of having grown up with all of this. I mean my Harry was like a brother to me anyways so that isn't much different. But Draco, and those likes were our rivals, and we were far from friends. "

"Yes, you are a bit different than the witch I've spent the last eighteen years falling in love with." He said.

"Is that bad?"

"No, no of course not, but it is hard to explain things that she would have known."

"I can only imagine, I think it's difficult for us both. I realized that I changed so much when I came back and warned you."

"Tell me." The wizard requested.

"Well when I went back in time, I was in the middle of fighting a war, I was hiding out here actually with Harry and Ron trying to hunt down the rest of Voldemort's horcruxes. Snape was a miserable double-agent and potions professor, and you had been killed at the department of mysteries, the ministry had been overtaken by deatheaters and the world was in chaos. We were on the run. I should have been in my last year at Hogwarts, but were undesirables and were to be captured on sight, so we couldn't be at school, or in any one place for long. But now, I find out that the war was over long before I even started my first year, that I'm not a muggle raised child and the likes. I hadn't expected that my warning would have really saved all of your lives, I suppose I must not have thought about it before acting."

"It sounds like a lot for you to have endured for being so young." Sirius commented.

"By that point we were so used to it. My first year I fought off a troll, or well I watched as Harry and Ron fought off a troll, tricked a three headed dog, got stuck in devil's snare, attacked by charmed flying keys and solved a treacherous riddle to avoid being poisoned and was nearly killed by a giant, live version of wizard's chess, all so Harry could get the Philosopher's stone and put off Voldemort's return. In my second year I was petrified by basilisk venom from the giant snake being loose in the school thanks to Ginny having been influenced by Tom Riddle's diary and Harry and Ron opened the chamber of secrets to kill the Basilisk and destroy the diary. My third year I fought of a werewolf, used a time turner to save your ass and prevent the execution of Buckbeak the hippogriff." She paused to take a breath.

"Merlin, you sure got into trouble." Sirius commented.

"That was only the first three years. In fourth Year, we hosted the tri-wizard tournament and Harry was one of the four champions because some deatheater impersonating mad-eye moody entered his name in the goblet of fire. He fought a dragon, saved two people from the depths of the black lake and conquered the maze only to be trapped and involved in a blood ritual which brought Voldemort back and watch his friend die. In fifth year nobody believed him that he-who-must-not-be-named had returned was ostracized by his peers and the students suffered the reign of terror of Delores Umbridge, who aside from not teaching anything in DADA, posted all of these horrific rules just to punish children and used blood quills in her detentions. So Harry, Ron and I formed what we called Dumbledore's Army to build up our defense, we walked into a trap in the department of mysteries and battled with deatheaters and we watched you die. Then in sixth year, Harry and Dumbledore were hunting horcruxes and we were preparing for war. I already told you how I spent my seventh year." She finished and Sirius was looking at her in awe.

"That doesn't seem particularly fair." A new voice said from the doorway and both turned to face Regulus.

"No perhaps not, it's never right for children to be forced into dangerous situations, and we were kids fighting in a war, but it was necessary. Without us Voldemort would have won, and I'd likely have been dead." Hermione queried. Both wizards were silent, so she added. "I'm very glad that the world I came from didn't come to pass and that it wasn't the experience your Hermione would have had."

* * *

Severus emerged from the black acrid smoke of his apparition with a swoosh of his black robes as he took great strides to where the lady stood. It was true that there was no love lost between himself and many of the dark lord's followers, and it was no different with the lady's followers. But it was obvious to anyone present that Severus Snape absolutely loathed the Lady, and that she wasn't too keen on him either. He was however, far too useful to be killed so she tolerated him, and as a double agent trying to protect his only child, adopted though she may be, Severus got his own use out of serving the newest dark power in the Wizarding World.

The Lady made her usual cackle as he approached her throne where her mass of crazy unkempt black curls rivaled that of her insane disposition.

"Snape. Good, now the meeting can begin." Bellatrix said from the center of the room where her minions assembled around her.

"My lady." Severus begrudgingly acknowledged.

"Tell me, Severus, where can your ickle little mudblood be found?"

"I assure you that this is information I do not know." Severus lied.

"Can't say that I actually expected you to tell me. I mean you never did confess to being a traitor in the last war either, but I knew then as I know now." Bellatrix barked.

"If you believe me to be a traitor prove it." Severus said bravely.

"Crucio." The lady shouted enraged to be challenged and Severus fell to his knees. He refused to give her the satisfaction of screaming but the pain was excruciating and therefore the dark haired wizard retreated into his own memories.

* * *

Severus had always found the visitor from the future rather peculiar. In the six years since she had shown up, knowing things Severus still had not revealed to anybody else, (if you didn't count those who witnessed his exchange with the witch), he had often thought about her warning.

The witch had told him to find joy, and even now he wondered how. His one true love, had married another and she was it for him. He was never particularly social, Lily had been one of his only friends, and then there was Regulus who seemed to look up to him and was a source of companionship in school. But it was becoming harder to maintain that relationship when Regulus was putting on the airs of an aristocratic snob that was too good to be marked. Severus bore the horrible black etching on his own forearm that signified he followed Voldemort. Regulus didn't and even though publicly showing unity in the views the dark lord so readily displayed, the performance was one which meant that associating with a marked servant was beneath him much less a half-blooded one at that.

So Severus relied on the social functions that were the dark lord's revels and his staff meetings at Hogwarts. Lucius Malfoy and Thoros Nott took an invested interest in him but of course they didn't know that everything they revealed to him where whispered into the ears of Dumbledore. He was a double agent and if it were to be discovered his so called mates would throw him into the dark lord's path themselves. So he didn't consider that he had friends, he had comrades on both sides, Dumbledore and his order and Voldemort and his deatheaters and his role was to play both sides like a fiddle.

Because the wizard felt his peril he often would recollect on the message he had been given when still a boy. That he should find joy. He laughed at the concept, how could one find joy in a dark and dangerous world when one had no friends and no love?

It was such a moment that Severus found himself passing the time in his quarters when an owl pecking at the window called forth his attention. A missive from Dumbledore attached to the leg of a castle barn owl directed Severus to attend to a ministry summons in his place. Snape sighed loudly, hating the ministry, but doing as the Headmaster bid him.

When he reached the department of magical law enforcement as instructed it wasn't for the reason he anticipated. He thought it might have had something to do with his role as a spy, but what he found was a baby girl, wild hair literally throwing blue sparks of magic as she threw fireballs at the feet of frantic aurors. He was shocked at the sight, never had he encountered a child with so much power.

"Snape." Someone called out his name and he turned to face his hated rival, James Potter.

"Dumbledore sent me. What is this?" He asked trying very hard not to sneer.

"This is a muggle baby, or what is obviously a muggle-born witch bursting with more accidental magic than five young wizards alike."

"Yes but why is she here?"

"Her parents were found murdered, bodies covered in blood. The trauma of what was inevitably their horrific deaths must have set off the magical energy, and this lovely little girl just killed two other muggles and burned down half her house. As a witch we are waiting for her magical outburst to settle until we can figure out what to do. I was hoping Dumbledore would know but he sent you". James explained.

"I see." Severus said.

"That girl deserves a home, but with power that strong I fear nobody will take her in." The Gryffindor mentioned. "I wouldn't, not with Lily and Harry to protect. So unless you have another solution, as soon as this tantrum is over it's off to the muggle child welfare association with her."

"What about her parents relatives?" Severus intoned.

"The Grangers were only children, and Hermione here has no living grandparents. She is technically now a ward of the city just as soon as the muggle authorities are alerted after the DMLE is through with cleanup."

Severus started at the revelation. First of all the name. Hermione. Granger. Hermione Granger. The same name as the girl who had come back in time to warn him. And she was only a baby. An orphaned one at that. He felt an instant need to protect her from the cruelties of life. He may not have been an orphan himself, but he knew well the effects of neglect and child abuse and a sentence of becoming a city ward did not bode well for the chances that little Hermione's life would be void of them. He knew that Dumbledore would be furious and confused by his decision, and the thought of what the dark lord would say or do made him cringe, but Severus's mind was made up. He couldn't subject the girl to a life devoid of love like his was.

"I'll take her." He said, and James stared at him openly, mouth agape in shock. In case the dunderhead didn't hear him correctly he repeated. "I said, I'll take guardianship over her. She is a witch she belongs with her own kind."

"I can't say I agree more." James muttered. "Very well Snape. I'll get you some paperwork to sign but then she is officially your ward."

Severus maintained his cool outward expression but on the inside he was shaking in fear. He had never in all his life opened himself up to anybody, he had no true close friends, and nobody he trusted exclusively without condition. His whole life he had relied on himself, taken care of himself, been content by himself, on his own, alone. He didn't consider himself to be a caring man, and yet here he was one glance at a baby threatened with growing up in an orphanage and he was jumping into the role of a parent. He had never been responsible for anyone other than himself and now this child's life was his to care for. The thought was terrifying. But none-the-less Severus signed the papers and picked up the child. The moment he did the baby stopped sparking energy in her magical outburst and gave him a smile and a sloppy giggle and the dark haired wizard was lost to her. He felt something akin to love, something he hadn't felt since Lily...

* * *

Severus writhed on the floor from the pain of Bellatrix's crucio but he still wasn't screaming. After an hour the dark witch grew bored and stopped the curse.

"Next time I ask you a direct question do not lie to me." She hissed at him.

"I did not lie, my lady." Severus replied once again finding his voice. "I do not know where she is. She ran away when she found out I was serving you and that I served the former dark lord and we haven't spoken since. That was over a year ago. I don't know where she is, or who she is with."

Bellatrix screeched her displeasure and then stormed from the room, and soon after the rest of the followers disappeared themselves, leaving Severus very much alone. He laid there on the cold, dirty floor, soiled with his own bodily fluids and thought that he is grateful for his memories that took away most of his pain, or at the very least took his mind away from the pain, kept him sane. Because as he laid there his body shook with the spasms of the torture curse's aftereffects, and it seemed as if his entire body was so stiff with hurting that the pain had crept into his very bones. He wondered briefly if he would ever never not feel pain again. He had been no stranger to punishment at the hands of Voldemort, but for Bellatrix it was worse, she hated him, she didn't trust him, and she loved torture so not only did she mean it, but she got off on it, and therefore her crucio was far worse than that of his former master.

A voice broke his wallowing in the darkness. It was only a quiet whisper so Severus thought maybe he had been imagining it.

"Severus." Just his name, so quiet it was almost a prayer. Then it came again a little bit louder so Severus knew it was real. "Severus are you okay?"

It was Draco.

"Draco?" Severus groaned out.

"Yeah. You okay?"

"I will be." Severus said in an attempt to stand strong.

"What can I do?" Draco asked urgently.

"Protect her. Protect my daughter." Severus whispered his reply.

"I swear it." Draco promised and then Severus was once again alone.

* * *

Hermione was carrying a tray of tea upstairs to the library. She had sensed tension between the two brothers she was currently residing with, and while she figured there was some secret they were keeping from her, and as much as she wanted to figure out what, it wasn't her motivation.

She had known Sirius in her own time. He was different now in ways, events that had happened in her time had not here and so certain events that had shaped his personality that she was used to, hadn't here. She realized, and looked forward to getting to know him more and discover what was changed, but she didn't know Regulus, not at all. And she wanted to. If she was going to end up marrying one of them she wanted to know them both very well, to give them both an equal chance.

Regulus had looked very upset when he realized that time had caught up. Originally she had thought it was because he and her alternative self were close, which she had come to know they were, but not anymore so then her alternative self and Sirius. Then Hermione had realized that the wizard was probably struck by the fear that because she had a past that involved Sirius that she would be more comfortable with him, and he was probably hurt.

So the witch climbed the stairs to assure him that couldn't be further from the truth. Frankly, her past with Sirius barred her from wanting to spend time with him. She was comfortable around him talking like their beware friends, but he had kissed her, and even though the kiss had made her blood boil with desire, it was very confusing and awkward for her because of her history with him. She didn't have that to cloud her budding relationship with Regulus.

She entered the library and found the wizard in question sitting with his back to her, reading a small book.

"Care for a cuppa?" she asked and quirked a small smile when he jumped slightly from the start.

"Sure." he said and motioned to the seat next to him. "Though I thought you might want to talk more with Sirius."

"Sirius and I did talk, but I wanted to spend time with you. I know very little about you and I would like to." She explained.

"I'm fairly simple. And I'm not at all interesting." He replied.

"I don't believe that for a second." Hermione commented and poured two mugs of the hot liquid. "How do you take your tea?"

"Some white no sugar."

"Me to." She remarked. "Two things in common already."

"Two?' the wizard inquired?

"Two. You like to read, share the same passion for books as I do apparently, and we take our tea the same way."

"Very well. Two things in common." He smiled softly.

"Tell me about yourself Regulus, better yet tell me about us." Hermione requested.

"Not much to tell."

"Please?" Hermione insisted and after several moments he sighed, giving in.

"When I first saw you, and yes I mean you, the witch who came back in time, I honestly didn't know what to think. I don't trust people easily and you were just standing there, staring at Sirius and I after we were arguing, and I didn't recognize you, so I didn't know what to think, I was just suspicious. It wasn't until you explained that you had come back to spare me, somebody you had made it clear you knew nothing of, that I saw beyond mistrust. I was affected by that knowledge, why would you come back to save me when you didn't even know me, and I was honored. I really looked at you then, and what I saw was a beautiful, smart, fiery and powerful witch, with awful hair."

"Oh you wizards with the hair!" Hermione interjected in outraged insult.

"I merely speak the truth." Regulus defended, "When I really looked at you I knew that that was it, that you were the witch for me. And then you vanished. And I spent several years after fighting my brother on that because he felt the same. And I thought I'd never see you again, the mysterious witch from the future. Until you showed up again as a young child, in Severus's arms. When he told us your name was Hermione..."

He cut off and Hermione was quiet, waiting patiently for him to continue.

"It was strange for me to see you as a baby. Mostly because I was in love with you. And while I harbored those emotions, it was awkward and unseemly to have them for a child. It was a different sort of love watching you grow. Of course I did know that one day you would become a Black, either as my wife, or my brother's but it was more the friendship or familial love which grew into more as you got older."

"I had not considered that. But I suppose it must have been really strange to help rear me. I find it unbelievable that you fell in love with me just from my message, nobody ever even liked me in that short amount of time."

"How could I not fall in love with you?" Regulus finally replied and they both fell silent and drank their tea.

* * *

Regulus was sixteen when the dark lord had started to recruit him. His mother had already blasted Sirius of the tree for running away to Potter's house, and it had been one year since that beautiful, odd witch had shown up with her strange message of warning.

When she had disappeared, He and Sirius had fought over the fact that he was considering joining Voldemort, but he insisted that he had not been thinking of doing so, and then the siblings had argued over the girl. It had been a year full of his wild imagination of a future with this girl and a year not spent thinking of the war that was brewing.

But when he began to be recruited, Regulus remembered what the girl had said, and despite the pressure from his mother, and that his ally and friend in his house had joined, and that the other boys in his house were joining as well, Regulus didn't.

He had looked his mother in the eye and told her he was a Black, of the Ancient and most Noble House of Black, the only male heir of the house, and that he was far above some half-blood that could one day be minister. He wouldn't subject himself to becoming a servant but that he did respect the views the wizard held. Walburga had thought that was a good point and then doted on him for upholding their family honor.

And then he was twenty years old, and five years had passed since he refused to be marked and he was still alive, he was often still recruited, but he simply responded that he could throw money at the cause and not mar his skin, to which most laughed.

He was never in the same room with the dark lord and did a good job of avoiding the circles of people who were closely associated with him, including his old friend Severus, whenever it was possible to do so. He assumed that his tenacity with avoidance is partially what kept him alive, he was clever and good with twisting his words to manipulate his end goal, but lies and cunning only got a wizard so far. He had to also be always alert always on guard. He was good enough to be able to talk himself out of a tough situation, but why should he find himself in a tight spot to begin with?

Six years had gone by since he had been warned off joining the ranks that so many of his peers had been sucked into, and he was surprised that for the most part he was able to get away with it.

He had been told that his lack of being marked was an annoyance to the dark lord, he felt insulted that the House of Black didn't want to join his ranks, to which he had replied that his house most certainly did serve, Bellatrix was one of his most loyal and he and his parents contributed copious amounts of galleons to his cause, as well as were paving the path for him in the ministry. And whomever relayed the message really couldn't argue the point.

Though he could see that the dark lord's ire was increasing with him. He wanted bodies to serve him, to be his army, and while money was helpful, marked servants also contributed sums and still fought in the war. Regulus was beginning to fear that he wouldn't be able to go on as he had, that he would either have to join or die... and then Severus showed up with a baby girl...

A baby girl named Hermione. A baby that drew the attention of the dark lord, because Severus his spy, and resident recluse was now a parent, and it was so unexpected it was laughable. But it was also a distraction away from Regulus's lack of being marked. With Hermione around, he was intrigued and concentrating more on Severus to be bothered by the details of a seemingly loyal but unmarked pureblood wizard. And Regulus knew then that chances were high that he may just survive this after all.

* * *

The floo roaring to life in the library jarred Regulus from his deep thoughts. Hermione who had just reached for a little crumpet from the table dropped it on the floor having been startled by the sudden sound breaking the silence in the room. Emerging from the fireplace as dramatically and frantically as the sound of the floo had unsettled the peaceful atmosphere of the library was none other than Draco Malfoy.

Hermione shot a glare in his direction which the blonde didn't notice, or pretended not to, but old habits die hard, and no matter the fact that she was supposed to have been nearly life long friends with the boy now, he was a rival in her own time, and it was hard for her not to see him that way. luckily the witch managed to repress the sneered 'Malfoy' comment from leaving her mouth.

Before Sirius could make it to the library to see what was going on, or Regulus could move his hands across his throat as a signal to not say anything, Draco was relaying his message and Hermione was finding out that her wizards had been hiding things from her.

"I've got a message from Severus," drawled Draco arrogantly. "He seem to think Hermione here needs more protection. Anybody care to tell me why?"

"Fuck." the two brothers groaned in unison.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Woot! I made it time for a February update. it is significantly smaller than the previous chapters, but I had writer's block on this so bad, and actually thought I wouldn't make it in time for an update this month. But I did, feeling that it wrapped up nicely leaving room for a host of scenarios for the next installment. Thanks to all who read and review and I hope you all enjoy.**

* * *

Draco, was incensed when Severus had relayed his request. As the other spy in the ranks of his deranged aunt, he knew what Severus was trying to hide. He knew where his friend was, and whose care she was in. Which is exactly, why he was pissed as he entered the floo over there. He was so mad, he was seeing red, and he didn't pick up on any of the warning cues as he burst into the library at Grimmauld Place.

"I've got a message from Severus," he began in his aristocratic, holier than thou tone that he used to mask his fury, "He seems to think Hermione here needs more protection. Either of you care to explain to me why that is?"

In reply, he was met with two loud groans as the wizard's muttered "fuck" quietly. Then he noticed an irate looking Hermione sitting on the sofa right before she stood up. As she did, Draco immediately realized his mistake in speaking too fast. Of course, He had not been informed that time had caught up, so how could they blame him really? He was now looking at the girl who not long ago, had gone back in time twenty-five years to warn these wizards of their future. It wasn't the witch he grew up with. It seemed that his elder cousin's (once removed) had not as yet gotten around to telling her the scoop.

"Protection?" Hermione intoned the question in an eerily flat voice. "Just what are you not telling me? What exactly do I need protection from?" the witch huffed at the males in the room. Silence. All she received was silence. Holding in a frustrated groan she added,"start talking, now!"

"Kitten, why don't you let us talk to Draco a moment?" Sirius began and even Regulus looked at him in annoyance. As if that would work... It didn't. Hermione growled at them like the lioness she was and folded her arms across her chest.

"Answers, now!" She demanded.

"Well, you see, the thing is," Sirius said in a small voice, "we've been keeping a rather large secret from you."

"Yeah, no shit Sherlock. I got that much, Sirius. I want to know what that secret is, exactly."

"Ummmm…" Sirius wasn't able to find the words, much to Hermione's annoyance.

"Regulus?" she asked, though it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it wasn't a question.

"Hermione, when you came back in time, and warned us about the dark lord, we did follow your advice and yes, Voldemort was defeated." Regulus explained. "What we didn't tell you was that Bellatrix rose up as the new dark lady in his place." He finished. A look, none of the three wizards in the room could distinguish crossed her features briefly. It was similar to one of fear but fear didn't quite fit to describe it, loathing, hate, resentment and rage seemed present as well.

"And?" she prompted, knowing there was more, something even worse.

"Bellatrix is after you." Sirius informed. Hermione sank back down into the sofa cushions. Of course she was, the witch thought.

"Why?" Hermione asked. "Why is she after me?" Draco took the opportunity to speak up.

"We don't really know. We can only guess, but we think it is a couple of reasons." He said.

"One reason is your blood," Regulus continued. "She knows you were adopted, that your birth parents were muggles, and she was and still is a blood purist. She never liked you because of that, but she resented you and your blood more when we agreed to the betrothal. She believes you are tainting the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black."

"We also think that she wants you dead because she blames you for the death of her lord. She doesn't know about the time-traveling but she feels that your adoption never should have happened and it somehow created a shift that caused the demise of Voldemort. We know that is true, just not in the way she thinks. She is crazy, and because she loved the dark lord, she wants revenge for his death. You became the target." Sirius completed.

"Add to the fact that Snape is your father, and well, she hates Snape so by association, you never really stood a chance." Draco finished up with his two-cents.

"I guess changing time never really made a difference then." Hermione replied sadly. "Bellatrix is still deranged and the world is still threatened by darkness. We only traded one sociopath for another."

"In any case, it became quite clear when she gained power a couple years ago, that you needed to be protected. So we brought you here and created an elaborate backstory to protect Snape as well, since he continues to be a spy in her order." Sirius said.

"Why does Severus feel she needs more protection, Draco?" Regulus asked finally, addressing the whole reason for this information session.

"Well," Draco said. "I've just come from a meeting, and Aunt Bella was torturing him for Hermione's whereabouts, so I bet that has a little something to do with it." By now, Draco knew why his godfather felt that Hermione needed more protection. Since time had caught up to her she had no idea what was going in or just how dangerous it was out there for her right now.

"Severus was tortured?" Hermione gasped.

"He's fine, Hermione, as fine as one can be at any rate. Yes, he was tortured, it is a common occurrence for him."

"Why does Severus serve her, if she hates him? I know he hates her, so it can't be because he wants to."

"No, but he needs to serve her because he needs to keep you safe." Regulus replied. "And besides, he is too much of a genius to be killed, so she does have use of him, even if the despise each other."

"He's a spy then?" Hermione asked. "Just like with Voldemort."

"Yes. He is. So am I." Draco answered. "He wanted me to help watch over her. Keep him in the loop. I don't think he will be able to come for a while, it was pretty intense tonight."

Regulus and Sirius shared a look with the younger wizard and nodded their heads.

"Oh Gods." Hermione whispered, misinterpreting Draco's statement. She thought he was talking about how bad the torture was. She wasn't wrong, it was bad to watch, but Draco had a suspicion that with all of the times he had been under Bella's curse that Severus had found a way to detach himself from the pain. What Draco had meant was that that things were taking a toll for the worse as far as Hermione's safety was concerned. Bella was on the hunt and she was determined to figure out the location of her target.

"I've never been more grateful that this place is unplottable." Sirius drawled.

"Agreed." Draco replied.

"Now kitten, I know it's probably not what you want to hear, but you do realize that you can't leave here right? This is a safe house, one of the few ones that Bell doesn't have access to in some way."

"I figured as much." Hermione replied. "I understand. I won't leave."

"Good." Sirius said.

"Why didn't you tell me this from the start?" Hermione suddenly shouted in an outburst. Sirius looked ashamed even as Regulus directed an 'I told you so' glare in his brother's direction.

"Sirius thought it best not to reveal too much to you at once, he didn't want to overwhelm you. He was trying to avoid upsetting you as we didn't know how well you would take the information." The younger Black sibling explained.

"I see." Hermione simpered. She supposed it made sense. She might have been concerned if she was in their shoes. They didn't know her, or how well she would cope with traumatic news. She couldn't fault them for being cautious. "However, I would like to know more about this elaborate plan you all came up with," She added.

"What elaborate plan?" Sirius asked, looking at the witch strongly.

"The big cover-up you made to protect Severus as well as me. Considering if I get caught, I had better know it, I'd like to be filled in."

"You are not going to be caught, kitten, but of course I'll tell you." He replied and patted the spot next to where he just sank down into a couch. Hermione crossed her hands over her chest and glared at him, not moving to sit down. He wasn't going to talk himself out of this one. He just smirked and returned her look, challenging her. "But not until you calm down."

Hermione did not like that answer, and shot him a look of contempt but she maintained her outward cool. She wanted answers more than she wanted to beat her fists on his chest, which could come later in any case. "I'm calm." She replied and moved to sit down next to him.

Sirius smirked at her because he knew she was very far from being calm, but she was sitting pretty like a good girl and not trying to hit him currently so he didn't dare point that out. He just made himself comfortable beside her an began to explain.

"As far as the backstory goes, you were obviously raised by Snape. When Bellatrix was first rising to power, we realized we needed to hide you, and although he was against it, Snape was the only spy the order had trained, and he was assigned to being our eyes and ears from Bella's ranks. He trained Draco here to assist as well. So, before Severus official joined rank we staged a very public, very angry falling out between you. It was presented as though you had just found out about what he did exactly under Voldemort. You screamed at him that you never wanted to see him again and you ran out in a tizzy. Regulus and I refused to join Bellatrix's ranks, and vanished in plain sight. It is widely assumed, correctly I suppose, that the three of us ran off together. As far as Bellatrix and the rest of the wizarding world are concerned we are far away and not in contact with anybody here."

"So that's why it's dangerous for Severus to be here, it doesn't only risk me being found, but it destroys his cover." Hermione concluded.

"Correct." Regulus confirmed. "Of course, nobody wanted it to get to a point where you would be at risk of being captured, hence the fidelus harm on an already unplottable residence. But it would be detrimental to lose the advantage of Severus on the inside."

"Okay." Hermione replied before looking at Draco. "Would you make sure he is okay please?" Hermione said the dreaded worry nagging in the back of her mind. The blond wizard nodded and retreated back towards the floo, leaving her alone with Sirius and Regulus. She gave each of them pointed looks now that they were on their own.

"I, for one wanted to tell you from the start." Regulus cleverly stated outright. Hermione accepted this and directed the brunt of her annoyance at Sirius as she rose to her feet once more. Regulus, smartly left her to it by slowly inching from the room.

"Hermione, I did what I thought I had to." Sirius began. "Please don't hurt me."

"I'm not going to hurt you, you dummy." Hermione sighed in exasperation. "Don't you know I couldn't ever hurt you?" She asked him, thinking of all the times in her original timeline that Sirius had teased her mercilessly, gotten on her nerves or whatnot and despite being annoyed, how it only made her love him more. She remembered also how heartbroken she was when he died. She told herself it was for Harry's sake, but in truth she had felt the loss of a crush and friend herself. For all that she was pissed at his not informing her of the situation from the get-go, she wasn't harboring any violent inclinations towards him.

"Do I know that?" He inquired. She whacked him playfully on his arm.

"Sirius, you should know by now, that I like you. Do you really think I would have gone back in time to save just anybody?"

"You went back to save my brother," he protested.

"Yes, I did, because I learned that he had been killed for betraying the dark lord, defecting and wanting to do right, something nobody ever gave him credit for. I believed he deserved a second chance. I didn't have to save your ass to, or Severus's for that matter. But I missed you…"

"You missed me ay?" He smirked. She went to hit him again, but he caught her wrist and tugged her towards him. She lost her balance, landing over his lap, quickly attempting to scramble up, but he wrapped his arms around her keeping her there. She looked at him with a mix of confusion and annoyance, seeing the cogs turning in his brain before his eyes darkened. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.

She returned the kiss, immediately open her mouth to his prodding tongue and shifting to straddle him. His body felt good against hers and as they snogged all of the tension vanished from the room as they took out there frustrations on each other.

Before he could even reach under her shirt, Hermione broke the kiss and stared at him.

"Sirius, I uh, I can't. I'm sorry, but this is too confusing," She said wrenching free of his hold on her and stumbling out of the library, down the hall to her room and locking the door. She left behind a bewildered, hard, and distressed Sirius.


End file.
